Thursday, October 1, 2009

Bible Verse Memory Challenge

A man’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Children and Youth

Youth Covenant Group:
This group of youth meets every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.. It is a time of prayer, conversation, and faith formation. All youth from the 6th to the 12th grades are encouraged to attend. If parents have any questions please give me a call.

Youth Special Activities:
In October we will have a lot of special activities. On Sunday, October 4th we will meet here at Trinity at 1:45 p.m. and head to First UMC in Punxsutawney for the Indiana District Youth Meeting. Currently two of our youth are district youth officers. We will be planning for our retreat in November to Wesley Woods and our January overnighter that will be here at the Indiana YMCA.

On Friday, October 16th we will meet at Mohawk Bowling Lanes for a night of cosmic bowling. More information will be coming as we approach the event but the cost will be $5 per youth and they will need money for snacks. Adult helpers will also be needed for this event. Youth are asked to be signed up by Sunday the 11th. Sign-up sheets are available in the youth room.

On Saturday, October 24th we will meet at Trinity at 6:30 p.m. and head towards Punxsutawney for an evening at the haunted corn maze. The cost for this event is also $5 per youth. Youth are asked to be signed up for this event by Sunday the 18th. Sign-up sheets are available in the youth room.


“Learn To Use Your Bible Sleep over.”
(3-6 grades)Mark your calendars and join us Friday, October 23rd at 7:00 p.m. through Saturday, October 24th at 11:00 a.m. Call the church office to reserve your place


½ Day of School Hangout
Friday, October 9th , noon - 3:30 p.m.
Graystone Church, 640 Church Street for Grades K - 6
To register for this event, call 724-349-5556.
Please bring a brown bag lunch.


Indiana Borough Trick-or-Treating
Saturday, October 31st
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Trinity will once again be passing out treats to the local children on Halloween. If you would like to be part of this ministry or would like to donate candy, please contact the church office.

Calling All Kids!
Have you ever wanted to climb the mountains of Africa, dance to the music of the Caribbean, tour the Black Forests of Germany, surf in California, or tour Sweden? Do the legends of Mexico beckon you? Would you like to carol in France?

If you have a wanderlust heart, please join us on an all-expenses paid journey. As we travel through this year’s musical, you will discover the “Best Place to Celebrate Christmas.” You might be surprised when you learn the answer. We are in need of singers, actors, musicians, and even some dancers. All children and grandchildren of the congregation 3rd grade and older are invited
to join us at 5:00 p.m. Sunday evenings.

For more information, please call the church office or Cindy Long.

Calling All Veterans

FREE Seasonal Flu Shots
Free seasonal flu shots (not H1N1 flu shots) will be given to all Veterans on Tuesday, October 6th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Indiana VFW courtesy of the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center. Call 1-877-626-2500 for more information.

TRINITY MILITARY SERVICE SURVEY
Please help us compile a list of all members of Trinity that are serving or have served in the armed forces. Please complete the form below and return it to the church office or e-mail us at
office.trinityumcindiana@verizon.net Thank you very much for your assistance!
Name: ________________________________________________________
Branch: _______________________________________________________
Dates Served: ___________________________________________________
Theater: _______________________________________________________
Comments: _____________________________________________________

Fellowship/Discipleship Opps

Faith, Family, Fellowship
Join us this month as we participate in Crop Walk on Sunday, October 4th. We’ll meet at Grace UMC at 1:30 p.m. If you can’t walk with us, can you sponsor one of our walkers?

Also in October, join us for Fall Family Fun on Saturday, October 10th at 6 p.m.. We will be ordering pizza, painting pumpkins, bobbing for apples, and making caramel apples for dessert! Reservations to the church office are appreciated so that we can be sure to have enough pizza and a pumpkin for each child (& adult!) that wants one.

Senior Program and Luncheon
Wednesday, October 14th at 11:00 a.m.
Please call the church office to register or sign up in Bishop Hall.


Covenant Discipleship –A Journey of Spiritual Growth for Adults & Youth
Sunday: 6:00 PM Monday: 6:00 PM
Thursday: 6:00 and 7:00 PM
Youth Covenant Discipleship 6:30 PM Wednesday

A Covenant Discipleship group consists of five to seven people who want to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ through mutual accountability and support. They meet once a week for one hour to pray and "watch over one another in love." The General Rule of Discipleship – To witness to Jesus Christ in the world, and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Caregiving Support – For Adult Caregivers Who Care for Other Adults
Are you caring for another adult in your home, or caring for someone in a nursing home, or caring for another adult who lives out - of - town? If you are, you know the challenges and joys of helping another adult in a difficult time of their life. This group meets the third Wednesday of the month at 3:00 PM - this month the date is October 21st. If you need support before our next meeting, please call the church office.

3rd Annual Evelyn Epstein Caregiver Awareness Program Family Caregiver Celebration!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Rustic Lodge, Indiana
11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Food, Refreshments, Guest Speakers, and More!

Praise Team:
The praise team is back practicing every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. They will be leading in worship every third Sunday at the 11 a.m. service. Anyone interested in singing or playing with the praise team is asked to see Mike Mohnacky, the praise team director.


Indiana Borough Trick-or-Treating
Saturday, October 31st
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Trinity will once again be passing out treats to the local children on Halloween. If you would like to be part of this ministry or would like to donate candy, please contact the church office.

"Cheerful Gleaners" is a new Sunday Morning Bible Study
And we are looking for you to join us. We need to hear what you think! We have just started Genesis and discussions have been
lively, informative, and thought-provoking. So come out and join each and every Sunday morning, 9:45 a.m. through 10:45 a.m. in the library.

Bishop’s Day On The District
Tuesday, October 27th
7:00 PM
Purchase Line UMC
All clergy and lay people invited

½ Day of School Hangout
Friday, October 9th , noon - 3:30 p.m.
Graystone Church, 640 Church Street
for Grades K - 6
To register for this event, call 724-349-5556.
Please bring a brown bag lunch.

Missions and Learning Opps

CROP Walk

The Indiana CROP Hunger Walk will be held on Sunday, October 4th from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. The 10K walk will begin at Grace UM Church and end at Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Organized locally, the Indiana CROP Hunger Walk is looking for 100+ walkers and hopes to raise over $7500 to help stop hunger here in our community and around the world. A portion of the funds raised here in Indiana County will go to the food collection efforts of the Indiana County Community Action Program (ICCAP).

Our local ICCAP Food Bank recieved over $1500 from the 2008 Crop Hunger Walk for use locally in providing food and servies to over 1500 families throughout the county. For more information, contact Tom Van Dyke (724-349-3335) or Ed Kennedy (724-463-3898) or the Trinity Church Office (724-465-2015).

In-House Ops
We are always in need of readers, ushers, special music performers, newsletter helpers, nursery care, and event set-up/clean-up. Also holiday baking is right around the corner, please consider baking a few extra dozen cookies for upcoming events!

Operation Christmas Child
Fill a shoe box with Christmas gifts for a child so that they can experience the joy of Christmas.

Since Operation Christmas Child was started by the Samaritan’s Purse organization close to 70 million shoe boxes have been delivered to children in over 120 countries. They are delivered to the poor and needy all over the world. Along with the shoe box each child receives a book of Bible stories, written in their language, and millions of children have come to know Jesus because of the book. For many children this is the first Christmas gifts they have ever received and the first they have heard about Jesus.

We hope many of you will take part in this project over the next few weeks. We need to have your completed box at the church by November 8 through 15 . If you th th need instructions for filing your box, there are copies of directions in the church office.

Also, there are some books about Operation Christmas Child at each entrance to the sanctuary for anyone who would like one. The book tells about different countries that have received shoe boxes and gives examples of how lives have been changed through this project.


VOLUNTEERS IN MISSION UPDATE

Your Conference VIM Team to Israel/Palestine WPA Annual Conference has an Israel/Palestine Task Force that has been advocating study and action with regards to the Israel/Palestine peace process. The following are the members of your conference VIM team to Israel/PalestineOctober 11-24): Carl Ackley (from upstate New York), Linda Bell (Sugar Creek UMC), Jim Bickford (Johnstown Oakland UMC), Marilyn Kay Durst (Ambridge Fellowship UMC), Mary and Dick Hart and Connie Johnson (California UMC), Rick and TC Lyle (Warren First UMC), Diane and John Miller (New Castle First UMC), Alice Moore (Mcknight UMC), and
Gretchen Woeste (Bethel Park Christ UMC). These folks have chosen not to pull back in fear, but to step forward in faith. Not only do they expect to experience a unique pilgrimage, learning more about the geographic and cultural setting of our Bible, but they will volunteer their time and efforts to work alongside Palestinian Christians harvesting olives. Please pray for these volunteers – that they might prepare themselves mentally and spiritually for this trip, that they might be patient, flexible, and safe, and that the team might be in tune to God’s leading as they listen and learn and respond to others.

Setting up our experience in the Holy Land are Janet Lahr Lewis, General Board of Global Ministries VIM Coordinator in Israel and Tina Whitehead, WPA volunteer with Sabeel, an ecumenical Palestinian Christian organization working for “a just, comprehensive and enduring peace informed by truth and empowered by prayer and action.” If you wish to make a money donation to the ministries that Janetand Tina connect with, send your gift to The UM Conference Center, 1204 Freedom Road, Cranberry Township, PA 16066-0002. Mark “Israel/Palestine VIM” on the memo line of the check.

Project Chacocente
A VIM team from Christ UMC in Bethel Park traveled to Chacocente, Nicaragua, this past July and had a powerful experience. From film footage taken during that trip, Gwen and Clay Kisker of Christ UMC produced a wonderful audio-video package for UMTV. The Kiskers have their own production company and have done an excellent job telling this story! On our Conference web site you can access this video clip from their package. Check it out: http://www.wpaumc.org/ (Ministry Battles Poverty in Nicaragua).

Korean Methodist Hospital in Paraguay
The debt ($35,000) for the Korean Methodist Hospital in Paraguay is now paid in full. There are many worthwhile projects with the Methodist Church of Paraguay. For instance, a benefactor in the U.S. has been paying President Pastor Pablo Mora’s salary. That benefactor lost all investments and went bankrupt in the past year. Expansion/construction of the Methodist Seminary where many VIM participants stay when they volunteer in Paraguay has slowed due to directing all resources toward theKorean Hospital. Contributions should be marked “Paraguay Conference #SS0003200S”.

Church World Service Early Response Training Webinars
website: http://www.cwserp.org

Oct. 6, 2009 Getting Organized for Recovery
Nov. 3, 2009 What is Disaster Case Management?
Dec. 1, 2009 How Case Management fits into the recovery process
Jan. 5, 2010 Emotional and Spiritual Care
Feb. 2, 2010 Finding and Managing: Money, Muscle, Materials
March 2, 2010 Hosting and Using Volunteers
April 6, 2010 Construction Management
May 4, 2010 Children and Youth in Disasters
June 1, 2010 Cultural Sensitivity
Home of Hope Outreach – The Nyadire Connection
Through the Home of Hope Outreach program, The Nyadire Connection enables hundreds of
orphans and vulnerable children of the Nyadire region in Zimbabwe to remain in school by
providing fees, a backpack of school supplies, and establishing a personal connection with each
child. Especially vulnerable in the fragile environment of Zimbabwe are hearing impaired
children. At the Nyadire United Methodist Mission primary school, Teachers Mwoyosyi Tapfuma and Desmond Dzemwa have 30 hard of hearing or deaf children in grades 2 – 7. These children from homes in the Mutoko/Murewa/Mudzi region come to Nyadire, live in dorms, eat in the dining room, attend church, and play sports every day. Using sign language, they are taught English, Math, Environmental Science, Social Studies, Religious and Moral education, Home Economics, and AIDS education.

The Nyadire Connection is searching for a church, organization, or individual to sponsor this ongoing program. The yearly fee for each child is $200. Financial support is critical, but equally important is the opportunity to connect and share with these enthusiastic learners who now live in one of the world’s most troubled spots. To donate money to educate these children, contact Elsa Zollars at elsazz@verizon.net or 412-835-1408.

Youth Fundraisers:

Support our youth as they raise funds for retreats, special events, and other great causes!

Current fundraisers:

Youth for Hire
Members of our youth group are available for hire! If you have a job that needs done around our house (cutting grass, raking leaves, cleaning out a flower bed, painting a porch, etc.) please fill out a form on Pastor Jude's desk in the youth room. Pastor Jude will call you to set up a day and time that the youth can come and do the work. We simply ask that you make a donation to the youth for their youth accounts for the work done. The suggested donation if $10 per hour per youth. Please see Pastor Jude if you have questions about this new youth fundraiser.

Sheetz Coupons
The youth are still selling Sheetz coupons. See any of our youth, PJ, or the office to purchase these coupons that are good for 1 MTO item and any size fountain drink. Lunch for $4!!!

Hats
We still have hats! $15 each - (Christmas is Coming soon!)